'Anorexia is often fuelled by PRIDE': Satisfaction at losing weight can exacerbate the disease, psychologist claims
- 'Positive emotions may play a role in fuelling eating disorders,' experts say
- Women suffering from anorexia have a sense of pride over being able to maintain and exceed their weight-loss goals, the study claims
- Study links positive emotions that have become skewed with anorexia-type behaviours such as vomiting and constant weight checks
- Scientists want to understand why positive emotions become so strongly associated with weight loss, in order to develop new treatments
People suffering from anorexia often pride themselves on how much weight they have lost - triggering a vicious cycle, a study claims.
Previous studies have focused on how negative emotions like being sad or angry can exacerbate anorexia nervosa, but now researchers believe that positive emotions may play a role in fuelling eating disorders too.
They think that the link between positive emotions such as pride, and weight loss behaviours, turns into a vicious circle so that people who are already dangerously thin, continue to lose weight.
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People suffering from anorexia (illustrated with a stock image) often pride themselves on how much weight they have lost, a new study says. Previous studies have focused on how negative emotions can exacerbate anorexia nervosa, but now researchers believe that pride may play a role in fuelling eating disorders too
EATING DISORDER WHICH AFFECTS AROUND 160,000 PEOPLE IN THE UK
Around 1.6million people in Britain suffer from eating disorders and a tenth of those are thought to have anorexia. The rest have bulimia or other disorders.
Its full name anorexia nervosa, it is often cited as the most lethal mental illness - with a larger ratio sufferers dying than those who have depression or psychosis.
Sufferers tend to focus on food but the illness itself stems from low self-esteem and an inability to cope safely with worries, problems and a lack of control.
Many who have anorexia lower their food intake by skipping meals and cutting down the types and amounts of food they eat; some over-exercise.
Aside from catastrophically severe weight loss, physical symptoms include difficulty sleeping, dizziness, stomach pains, constipation, feeling cold and hair loss.
Periods can stop for women and sufferers grow soft, fine hair all over their bodies in a condition called Lanugo.
Although researchers are given figures by hospitals around Britain, it is thought the real toll of sufferers could be much higher because many are reluctant to seek help.
One symptom is that sufferers shut themselves off from the world and convince themselves that what they are doing is right, even if they are dangerously underweight.
Nine out of ten people with an eating disorder are women - but NHS figures suggest there is a growing number of male sufferers.
Specialists tend to use psychological treatments such as counselling, though the most severe cases have to be treated in hospital to ensure patients regain weight safely.
The condition affects around 160,000 people in the UK, according to 2012 figures from the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence.
The study, by Edward Selby, an assistant professor at Rutgers University in New Jersey, measured the emotional states of 118 women between the ages of 18 and 58 being treated for anorexia nervosa over a two week period.
He found that the participants not only suffered from negative emotions but also felt emotionally positive, having a sense of pride over being able to maintain and exceed their weight-loss goals.
‘What we think happens is that positive emotions become exaggerated and are rewarding these maladaptive behaviours,’ he said.
‘Since only about one-third of women recover after treatment, what we need to do is gain a better understanding of why these positive emotions become so strongly associated with weight loss rather than with a healthy association such as family, school or relationships.’
Previous research into eating disorders has focused mainly on how negative emotions, like being sad, angry, or having a lack of control, contribute to anorexia, which is a mental health condition characterised by an obsessive desire to lose weight by refusing to eat.
‘Up until now there has been little analysis of empirical data that could help gain insight into how positive emotions are distorted by those suffering with the illness,’ Professor Selby said.
The study, which was published in the
journal Clinical Psychological Science, found that women who had the
most difficulty understanding how to recognise when positive emotions
were becoming skewed, engaged in more frequent anorexia-type behaviours.
These include vomiting, laxative use, restricting calories, excessive exercise and constant weight checks.
Selby said: ‘Women with anorexia are often in complex emotional places,
that is why it is important to understand all we can about what they
are getting out of this experience.
‘The more we know not only about the negative emotions, but also the positive emotions connected to this disease, the more likely we will be to treat this devastating illness.’
The study found that anorexic women who had difficulty understanding how to recognise when positive emotions were becoming skewed, engaged in more frequent anorexia-type behaviours like vomiting, laxative use, restricting calories, excessive exercise and constant weight checks (illustrated with a stock image)
He believes that much of the positive reinforcement that may lead women with anorexia to feel good about their situation, could be coming from ‘pro anorexic’ websites where it is not unusual for individuals suffering with anorexia to be applauded for their control and courage in obtaining extreme weight loss.
Professor Selby explained that the link between positive emotions and weight-loss behaviours, turns into a vicious cycle for some women suffering with eating disorders who continue to lose weight even after their goals are met.
The scientists said that more research is needed to find a way to redirect positive emotions associated with being thin to other healthy activities such as exercise and determine how these feelings should be addressed in treating those with eating disorders.
'Being in control is important for many of these women,' Professor Selby said.
‘What we need to do is find a way to reconnect the positive emotions they feel in losing weight to other aspects of their lives that will lead to a more balanced sense of happiness.’